Feeding Frenzy

The incredible true story of how poke became the hottest new food business—and the startups racing to dominate it.

- Helaine Olen

One day back in 2015, Peter Yang invited his brother and two friends over to his garage to test out a business idea under discussion—one involving stainless steel prep tables, innovative sriracha sauces, and lots of raw fish.

“We all felt it was going to be as popular as roll sushi,” recalls Yang, who co-owns Pokéworks, one of the fastest-growing poke chains in the country. What he didn’t foresee? “The speed of it.”

Poke, if you’re not a regular at Pokéworks (or rivals Sweetfin or Poke Me or the PokéSpot or Poke Green or Mainland Poke Shop), once referred to a traditional Hawaiian dish involving sushi-grade raw fish, rice, and some sort of marinade. These days, it’s a catchall term for the reigning fast-casual food craze, one that’s spreading from Southern California across the country.

Take Yang, his brother Mike Wu (the CEO), and their seven co-founders. Just weeks after the opening of the first Pokéworks store in New York City in late 2015, lines were pouring out the door. In January. They now have $12 million in annual revenue from 19 locations, of which seven are franchised. The company plans to open another 20 to 25 franchised outlets in the United States this year.

Pokéworks is far from alone: More than 700 restaurants nationwide tracked by Foursquare and Eater.com served poke in 2016, a 100 percent increase from 2014. ZeroCater, a corporate catering company, says that in 2017 it saw a 78 percent annual increase in poke deliveries for its customers in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, Austin, and Washington, D.C.